Ahh Paris....

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Big Scary Customs Officer: “Did you pack this bag yourself?”
Me: (squeek) “yes sir”
Big Scary Customs Officer: “Has anyone else been near your bag this morning?”
Me: “um no sir”
Big Scary Customs Officer: “Come with me please”

I don’t know why my inconspicuous little black backpack raised concerns at London security but my camera was closely examined and subjected to a drug and explosive test. All clear of course but hell, that makes you suddenly nervous for no good reason!

After hearing so many conflicting stories about Paris, we decided to check it out for ourselves. The chance to watch the All Blacks take on France at the Stade de France was a good bonus.

The Eurostar was PACKED with Kiwis. All geared up and sporting their Canterbury jackets and greenstone pendents. Despite the huge number of Kiwis in Paris, it soon became apparent that Te Reo don’t help much in Europe!

We spent four ‘full on’ days taking in the sights. The Lourve was amazing. Seeing all the original paintings made all those hours in 7th form art history seem quite beneficial. The building was an attraction in itself. Unbelievable.

The Eiffel Tower was so much better than expected and HUGE. Luckily we got a few days of beautiful crisp, clear weather. This meant the views were amazing but it also meant long waiting time to get up there as most of New Zealand woke up and decided to visit the Eiffel Tower too!

The Luxembourg Gardens were beautiful, the Notre-Dame was breath-taking and the Arc de Triomphe is much bigger in real life. The shopping was un-real - enough beautiful shops to make a grown girl weep with joy. (Chris was weeping too after a few hours… although I don’t think it was joy). When it comes to monuments and architecture, then Paris is a winner.

Pere-Lachaise Cemetery was a great little trip. An amazing old cemetery filled with huge old crypts and gravestones. Chopin and Jim Morrison are just two of the famous people buried there. Not surprisingly, this cemetery gets over two million visitors a year.

Great food and excellent wine, especially as part of the pre-game warm-up. It was all going so well that our little crew nearly didn’t make it to the game in time! (Rugby photos coming soon.) While the game itself wasn’t that inspiring, the atmosphere was amazing - even us girls made an effort to get into the spirit of it all - the boys of course didn’t need any encouragement..

As we were staying a little bit further out from our friends, we got to see a little bit of the suburbs too. At one point we got off the metro in ‘the wrong part of town’ and I can honestly say I have never felt so afraid… DODGY AS. Paris, like any big city, certainly has a seedy side!

After too many croissants and a bag packed to the brim with French wine, we were back on the Eurostar for the trip back to London…

Au revoir!

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Photos

Galeries Lafayette
A most excellent shopping destination although we didn't buy a thing. All decked out for christmas.

Inside a crypt
There are amazing stained glass windows inside lots of the crypts.

French
The oldies gather to play chess at the Luxembourg Gardens. Bless em..

Sacre-Coeur
Overlooking Paris

Autumn
A great day to go up the Eiffel Tower. Most of Paris also thought so too.

Up the tower
Looking down at Parc du Champ de Mars

Looking up
Too hard to photograph the whole thing!

Arc de Triomphe
Close up

Detail on the Notre-Dame
So beautiful. Photography not allowed inside. Fair enough.

Pere-Lachaise Cemetery
A cemetery but not as we know it. Take a map!

The Island
Near Notre-Dame

Bit chilly on the last day
Well actually it was damn freezing..

Leaf fall
The cemetery was covered in a carpet of golden leaves.

Comments

[Siu Ling]

WOW!
Thanks for the link girl! What cool photos. Are you growing your hair long? It looks good.